Visitation Trends Show Huge Discrepancy Among National Parks

February 6, 2026

National parks are among the nation’s most beloved treasures. With locations stretching from remote Alaska wilderness to an urban downtown, their popularity varies, and many of these 63 parks experienced major changes in visitation last year.

Some of them saw massive jumps in visitors, while others took a nosedive, based on preliminary data released by the National Park Service (NPS) last month. GearJunkie crunched the numbers to figure out the biggest outliers and trends.

Here are the main takeaways from 2025’s stats, and what you need to know if you’re planning a national park trip this year. GEARJUNKIE